The golden rule for TikTok ads: don't make ads — make TikTok videos. Ads that succeed look spontaneous, as if a regular person filmed them on their phone.
TikTok ad types
A. In-Feed Ads — best for beginners
Appear during normal FYP scrolling — blend with organic content and include a CTA button. Flexible, low cost, the primary place to test e-commerce sales.
B. Spark Ads — the most trusted
Take a naturally successful video from your account and boost it as an ad. Achieves 20-40% higher engagement than standard ads because viewers feel it's a real video.
C. TopView Ads — for major brands
Full-screen on app open — starts at $50,000 per day. Exclusively for big brand global product launches.
D. Branded Hashtag Challenges
Invites users to create videos with a branded hashtag and custom music. Starts at $150,000 for 6 days — for broad brand awareness.
Starting cost by the numbers
- Campaign daily budget minimum: $50/day
- Ad group daily budget minimum: $20/day
- Beginner testing budget: $500 to $700 for 10-14 days
- Suggested split: divide the $50 daily across two ad groups — one broad, one interest-targeted
Average advertising metric costs
| Metric | Description | Average range |
|---|---|---|
| CPM | Cost per 1,000 impressions | $6 to $10 |
| CPC | Cost per link click | $0.17 to $1.00 |
You may also find useful: Advanced TikTok ads: professional strategies and TikTok for business: the complete marketing guide.
To move to advanced campaigns, read TikTok monetisation guide. For the full platform picture, read The complete TikTok guide.
Focus on your ad's first 3 seconds — if you convince the viewer it's a natural video, your CPC drops and your sales rise.